10/2008

(Phoenix, Ariz. – October 30, 2008) With a rising number of homeowners dealing with foreclosure, many voters may wonder where they should vote if they have recently moved. Secretary of State Jan Brewer and Attorney General Terry Goddard today provided the following reminder to ensure that no Arizona voters will be disenfranchised because of a recent move or foreclosure.

(Phoenix, Ariz. – October 30, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced a $200,000 settlement with Educational Research Center of America, Inc. (ERCA), a New Jersey-based, not-for-profit corporation. According to the settlement, ERCA must improve its practices for obtaining and handling personal information it collects through nationwide surveys of high school students.

(Phoenix, Ariz. – October 23, 2008) Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard today warned about fraudulent telephone calls being made to Arizona consumers from someone claiming to be from their bank. Consumers are told that their bank accounts have been compromised, and the account holders need to send in their debit cards to receive new, secure ones.

(Phoenix, Ariz. – October 22, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard, Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) Director Roger Vanderpool, and Art Brooks, President and CEO of the Arizona Broadcasters’ Association, today announced the creation of a new statewide public safety alert system.

The Arizona Endangered Person Alert system will notify the public when an adult suffering from a significant health problem or a medically-diagnosed disability (such as Alzheimer’s disease) goes missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances.

(Phoenix, Ariz. – October 22, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard announced a $60 million settlement today with Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer). The settlement resolves a lengthy investigation by Attorneys General from 32 states and the District of Columbia into the company’s promotion of the drugs Celebrex® and Bextra®.

Arizona’s share of the $60 million payment is $2,500,656. The settlement takes the form of a consent judgment and does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing.

(Phoenix, Ariz. – October 16, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard today warned seniors to be cautious if they receive telephone calls from someone who claims to be their grandchild and requests money for an urgent situation. The Attorney General’s Office has received information that the “grandparent scam” has made it to Arizona.

(Phoenix, Ariz. – October 15, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced that Douglas Ross Zuber, 40, of Phoenix, has been indicted on one count of money laundering, one count of theft and one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices. The charges relate to Zuber’s alleged embezzlement of nearly $11 million from his employer, Harvard Investments, Inc. (Harvard), and its subsidiaries.

(Phoenix, Ariz. – October 15, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced that three men have received prison terms for their participation in a telemarketing scheme that sold worthless vacation packages and fraudulent online sales businesses to senior citizens.

National Institute of Justice Awards Funds to Help Prisoners Wrongly Convicted

The United States Department of Justice, through its National Institute of Justice (NIJ), has awarded a $1,386,699 grant to the State of Arizona for post-conviction DNA testing of forcible rape, murder, and non-negligent manslaughter cases that might demonstrate actual innocence. Under this grant, Arizona could become one of the first states in America to systematically and categorically identify inmates in which DNA might resolve questions about actual innocence and then conduct the needed testing.

(Phoenix, Ariz. – October 9, 2008) Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced that he and other members of the State Foreclosure Prevention Working Group have called upon sub-prime mortgage servicers nationwide to adopt streamlined loan modification programs.

In a letter sent Tuesday to 16 of the nation’s largest sub-prime mortgage servicers, Goddard and other Working Group members urged the companies to develop loan modification programs similar to the one being implemented by Countrywide as part of a multi-state settlement announced Monday.